132 



VERTEBRATA. PISCES. 



its indiscriminate rapacity. Bowlker says, " My 

 father catched a Pike, in Barn Mere, [in Cheshire,] 

 was an ell long, and weighed thirty-five pounds, 



THE PIKE (Esox Lucius). 



which he brought to the Lord Cholmondeley ; his 

 Lordship ordered it to be turned into a canal in the 

 garden, wherein were abundance of several sorts of 

 fish. About twelve months after, his lordship draw'd 

 the canal, and found that this overgrown Pike had 

 devoured all the fish, except one large Carp that 

 weighed nine or ten pounds, and that was bitten in 

 several places. The Pike was then put into the 

 canal again, together with abundance of fish with 

 him to feed upon, all which he devoured in less than 

 a year's time ; and was observed by the gardener 



